A very unusual animal used to roam Australia. It was like a canine with black stripes. The last Thylacine died in captivity on 7 September 1936. Unfortunately, the last of the species was not recognized as important so little effort was made to record its behavior. A short, grainy film is the only thing that we have of this wonderful creature. No photographs were ever taken of the Tasmanian Tiger in the wild. | __ .. not thylacine extinction ..

Thylacinus cynocephalus lived in the island state of Tasmania. It had a special jaw that could open 120 degrees, though its bite was weak. Farmers feared it would kill their livestock. It could not do this and mainly ate carrion. Humans killed the native in vain. It may have looked like a dog/wolf but it was not related. The marsupial had a quiet, lone existence.| __ .. || demise .. |

The Van Diemen's Land Co. paid a reward (actual amount unknown) per head of Thylacine. This was followed by the Tasmanian parliament adding a bounty of £1 for an adult and ten shillings for a pup. Dogs brought by Europeans were the sheep killers: they ran amok in the bush. What a mistake the arrivals made. Thylacines would still be alive today if settlers had shown common sense. A writer, John Gould, had predicted its demise in a book published in 1850.| __.... | not extinction tiger .| ....__

The last survivor had a very sad end. To be set upon for something it did not do was bad enough, but dying of neglect was the ultimate crime. The keeper locked the animal out of its hut and it died of exposure.| __ .. | not | .. __ .... |

Natural pollination was used for years in plant research. it was thought to be the only way that a "pure" line could be preserved. Plants vary in characteristics depending on altitude and longitude. Crossing plants from different geographical region was the method put forward by Nobel Prize Laureate Dr Norman Borlaug who led the way in the Green Revolution.

This method only produced three generations of new varieties each year. A different system was needed. Embryo culture is the result. This is used in combination with changes in water, temperature, humidity, light and potting mix and is much more productive. Plant embryos are like stem cells. The neutral "baby" plants are nurtured and placed onto a media culture that determines what type of plant they will become.;

Pure-line plant genotypes are obtained in a shorter period. This is a major change in the creation of new crops that will feed the world's growing population. It will obviously take several decades to achieve the higher growth rates of the new food crops. However, scientists are optimistic.